RESTAURANT Reviews
These restaurant reviews reveal the Best of Huntsville during the last decade. Some of them remain, and some have since departed.
Huntsville's No. 1 Greasy Spoon
That familiar aroma lingers. It mysteriously drifted four long blocks west along Governors Drive to the new Big Spring Café.
It’s that smell of bubbling grease frying burgers. It permeated Big Spring Café #2 in its old location on Huntsville’s west side. Again, it’s the first thing you’ll notice as you step from your car and walk toward the new brick building.
The sensory welcome lets you know that fresh new surroundings needn’t destroy a reputation 90 years in the making. The sign atop the building verifies it: “Big Spring Café,” it reads, “Home of the Greasy Burger.”
Plate glass windows look into a room substantially larger than the old café. It had two or three tables in one corner and a lunch counter seating just more than a dozen customers. This new building is furnished with seven booths across the front and at least as many tables spread through the room. Stools along an extended lunch counter give customers a full view of the grills, vats and burgers frying beneath new shining stove hoods. An ample amount of the old atmosphere has been recreated here.
A man rushes in and plops briefly on a stool. The server calls him by name and knows what he plans to order. Minutes later, the man grabs up his paper bag and heads toward the cashier stand at the door. A few seats down sits Jackie Reed, the weekly watchdog of Huntsville’s City Council and a perennial candidate for mayor. A cook calls her by name, and a server brings her a chili dog. She eats it with a fork.
The namesake of this restaurant originated off Jefferson Street downtown in 1922. It expanded to a Governors Drive location mid-century and the Old Huntsville flavor followed. It continues in the modern version.
The greasy spoon menu and incredibly reasonable prices also survived the move. A basic hamburger still costs $1.65 and a hot dog $1.60. More elaborate double meat burgers pump the price up to $2.90. Sandwich prices start at $1.75 for grilled cheese or $1.85 for bologna. The highest priced sandwich has a dressed chicken patty for $4.10. A chicken salad plate costs $5.90; chili or stew top out at $2.50. The most expensive things on the menu are lunch plates costing up to $10.55 for a hamburger steak plate.
Big Spring Café has been a family affair since the 1940s. Doris Cowley and her husband Howard took over the restaurant in the 1970s from her sister, Hazel Beene, who had owned it for three decades. They turned it over to their daughter Pam Milam in 1992, and her children continue to work there.
Maybe the family tradition enables Big Spring to keep its simple, cozy atmosphere in far more elaborate surroundings. That and its tiny burgers similar to Krystals. The restaurant also has its own language. Order a cheeseburger, and you’ll get a patty on a bun with mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato. If you want the real grease burger – the one with mustard and onions – call it a “hamburger with cheese.”
This isn't health food, but loyal customers have been surviving on it -- year after year.
--August 3, 2017
The Original Brewpub
Spacious plate glass windows provide a bright view of downtown Huntsville streets. More glass panes on the back wall look into microbrewery filled with fermenters.
This is Below the Radar, an upscale casual restaurant carved from the main floor of the city’s historic Times building. An inviting bar spans most of the main dining room, and it specializes in more than a half-dozen of its own craft beers at any given time, along with an extensive list of other brews, wines and liquors. But the food is the main attraction at BTR.
Its house-cut potato chips and fried macaroni-and-cheese bites are great appetizers before a meal or snacks for happy hour or late night. Both the lunch and dinner menus feature a spread of creative appetizers: such choices as loaded fried pork skins and risotto crawfish morsels fried and served with remoulade.
Sandwiches include a Reuben, French dip, and four burgers distinctly dressed – with one with bratwurst and a fried egg, another with a fried green tomato and poblano slaw. The lunch menu features some recognizable ethnic selections: fish and chips with tartar sauce or malt vinegar; bangers and mash with the sausages boiled in Guinness and topped with stout gravy. Prices at lunch range from $9 to $13 for sandwiches and $13 to $15 for entrees.
At dinner, BTR serves similar sandwiches and entrees, along with a Cajun ribbed ribeye, petite filet, fresh fish catch, and rack of lamb. Each is specially seasoned – the steak with a thyme veal reduction; beurre blanc sauce for the seafood; a basil mint reduction on the lamb. Dinner dishes range from $13 to $30.
I joined noted Huntsville photographer Dennis Keim for lunch recently at Below the Radar. I had suggested BTR for an impromptu meeting, unaware that this is one of his local favorites. He already knew what he would have: Pork Belly Tacos. These are tortillas served with sliced pork and poblano slaw for stuffing.
My choice was more difficult. Reuben is one of my all-time favorite sandwiches, but Cuban panini and Dixie burger were competing for my attention. I opted for the burger, served with a fried green tomato, Cajun goat cheese and that same poblano slaw. It was a unique blend of flavors, almost too bulky to handle and dripping with cheese.
The contrast of sun shining through the wide windows and the dim lighting inside creates a nostalgic atmosphere fitting for this long-ago newspaper office. As we sat at a table next to the bar, both Dennis and I spotted old friends being seated on opposite ends of the room. That’s the neighborhood aura of Below the Radar.
This was Huntsville’s first real brew pub when it opened in August 2012. Many more have appeared around the city, but BTR remains the premier spot for pairing craft brews with fine dining. --July 19, 2016
Food for Draught
Bar food takes on a new meaning in downtown Huntsville.
The menu at Humphrey’s Bar & Grill might give the impression that this is just another tavern with food. But the presentations and the flavors defy stereotypes.
I’d suggested Humphrey’s to Morgan during one of our recent father-daughter culinary excursions, but we found a newer restaurant to explore’ on that day. It was still on my mind last week when wife Jenny and I were looking for an early meal on a Friday evening.
I told her Humphrey’s was especially appropriate, since we had a history there. I fell in love sitting across the bar from her in the late 1980s, when the restaurant was known as Bubba’s.
Over the last 25 years, our taste buds have evolved from the nachos, potato skins and chicken wings that once were staples at any tavern restaurant. So we wondered at Humphrey’s whether we had made the right choice when the menu listed tortilla chips, smoked wings, fried cheese and loaded cheese fries.
I’ve occasionally gotten up and left restaurants after being seated and looking at the bill of fare, but Jenny finds that embarrassing. My best choice was to read the menu further.
At the bottom of the list of entrees was exactly what I wanted – shrimp and grits. Jenny asked about a dish called Steak Frites, and I suggested that it would have some Mexican origin. The server, though, translated it as a steak with French fries. We made those choices, costing $11 and $12, respectively.
Humphrey’s still has its inviting patio with a stage behind the restaurant, and the bar facing Washington Street is as lively as ever. A divider with windows separates it from the main dining area, where several families with children were seated on this particular Friday.
We marveled at seeing no familiar faces in a room that was once part of our daily existence. Huntsville has changed; I guess we have, too.
Two small Caesar’s salads were our first course. Dressing was served on the side, and it was a tart-sweet concoction. We asked for more, although we didn’t really need it. The greens were fresh and quite good, dotted with crisp croutons. The small salad cost $4.
About the time we had finished our salads, the meals arrived. Jenny’s steak was a tenderloin cut into strips, cooked perfectly medium rare as she had requested. It made a colorful presentation with green beans and crisp fries on the side.
The steak was tender and tasty; the potatoes were crisp and outstanding. She was disappointed in the green beans, but I have spoiled my wife with a snap bean recipe that I serve almost anytime I cook at home.
My entrée was truly outstanding. It was a plentiful dish of saucy shrimp and sausage surrounding a mound of grits. It wasn’t spicy hot like some restaurants serve, but it was sensationally seasoned. This is by no means bar food.
During 25 years writing weekly columns and reviews of local restaurants, I once knew every detail about any popular restaurant in Huntsville. Those days are long past, but I still recognize many names from the past.
Jenny had mentioned that Anne Pollard was involved in Humphrey’s, but my first look at the menu made me doubt her. The food presentations and the savors made me a believer, though.
I had known Anne even before she helped launch one of Huntsville’s most storied restaurants, The Green Bottle Grill, during the 1980s.Among her partners in this new endeavor are chefs Andy Howery and Chris McDonald, also part of Huntsville’s restaurant heritage.
The Humphrey’s menu lists pizzas above a logo from Sazio, another popular upscale restaurant from the past. Other choices include hot dogs and burgers, each with its own flair, and creative wraps and sandwiches.
Humphrey’s is a sister restaurant to The Bottle next door, which is a sort of tribute to The Green Bottle Grill with its French-influenced cuisine using fresh Southern ingredients. The restaurants take up most of the 100 block of Washington Street in downtown Huntsville.
Much has changed over the years on Huntsville’s restaurant landscape, but the past is never left behind. Maybe I’ve lost touch with bar food, since I quit drinking 14 years ago. My wife and I may be more contented with each others’ cooking than going out so often.
The truth is that we’ll never view bar food the way we once did. Humphrey’s changed that.
--March 23, 2015
Upscale down-home cooking
Fried green tomatoes are thinly sliced and crisp like potato chips. You can pick them up and eat them with your fingers.
Hash brown casserole is much the same as the cheesy browns served at another local restaurant. They have an identical rich flavor but a creamy texture.
Turnip greens, spinach, boiled cabbage and candied yams testify to the fact that this restaurant lives up to its name. Walton’s Southern Table is down-home cooking.
This is the newest restaurant on the bustling corner of Whitesburg Drive and Airport Road. It has taken over a building long occupied by Ruby Tuesday. The new creation might be called an upscale meat-and-three restaurant.
It is a combination of old money and new ingenuity. The title Walton’s comes from an old family name in the Fleming family, which laid claim to this corner and the surrounding land early in Huntsville’s history. The restaurant is in the shadow of a mountain subdivision known as Walton’s Mountain.
The Walton’s Southern Table concept was devised by local entrepreneur David Martin, who has proven himself to have the Midas touch in the local restaurant scene. Everything Midas touched turned to gold, and Martin’s creations began with the delivery service Steak Out and have included Rosie’s Cantina, Little Rosie’s, Blue Plate Café and Shaggy’s Burgers & Tacos.
The menu at Walton’s Southern Table, at least for lunch, looks much like the fare at Blue Plate Café, only a few dollars higher in price. Admittedly, though, servings at Walton’s are a bit heftier than Blue Plate.
The lunch menu offers a meat and two or three sides at prices that start at $7.95. Choices include such Southern staples as chicken and dressing, meat loaf, pot roast and country fried steak. The difference between two and three vegetable plates is $1. A vegetable plate with four choices costs $8.95.
On Friday afternoon, the restaurant was still crowded nearing 2 p.m. That’s quite a recommendation. I can’t wait to try the dinner menu.
--January 22, 2015
A new barbecue
Dickey’s Barbecue Pit is Huntsville’s newest smokehouse and the first in Alabama outside of the Tuscaloosa area. This Dallas-based franchise opened in late August and has already become a favorite of the high-tech desk jockeys in the nearby research parks and shoppers from the adjoining Bridge Street Town Centre.
In barely three weeks open, Dickey’s has built a regular clientele, evidenced by the customers in line who can tell you which days they have to wait outside because of the crowds during lunch hour. They might have tried the spiced sausage and pork plate special one day and the ham and beef brisket another. One customer wasn’t particularly fond of the ham, but he was back the next day for the brisket and pork.
You might question any barbecue joint that doesn’t fill the surrounding neighborhood with hickory smoke, and the aroma was missing while waiting in line at Dickey’s. Once inside the door, though, that fragrance seeped from state-of-the-art, stainless steel smokers and filled the room. The wait was the result of a single-file service line, where customers read the menu from an overhead board and bark out their orders to the meat cutter at the front of the line. They then watch their order progress through the queue until meeting the cashier. A traffic jam stalls customers at the self-service drink-and-sauce station, but that bit of extra time gives other diners in the small restaurant a chance to finish up and vacate tables. Seating is limited at Dickey’s, although guests seem to find spots by the time they complete the ordering regimen.
The pulled pork is smoky and moist, and the addition of pickles and onions to a sandwich adds even more flavor. Slaw is available by request, and it adds a sloppy savor to the mix. Onion tanglers are a side dish of onion rings akin to the canned style that covered grandma’s casseroles. These are crisp, hot, greasy and delightfully good.
That sandwich, known as the Big BBQ, cost $9.45 with the two sides of slaw and tanglers. Add the restaurant’s Big Yellow Cup beverage for $2.25, and the cost for lunch is $12-plus with tax. Those prices might not discourage Huntsville’s engineers and research analysts, but they do somewhat qualify the clientele. Cost-conscious diners might take note of the fact that the restaurant serves free ice cream cones for dessert, and kids eat free on Sundays.
In addition to the pulled pork, beef brisket, spiced sausage and honey ham, Dickey’s serves pork ribs, turkey breast and chicken marinated in Italian seasonings. Stuffed potatoes and dinner salads are served, and some of the intriguing sides are a baked potato casserole, jalapeno beans, Caesar salad, fried okra and green beans with bacon.
Dickey’s is a franchise that grew from a 1941 restaurant by the same name in the Dallas area. It expanded across North Texas until 1994, when nationwide franchising began. It has grown to more than 400 locations in 42 states. The Dickey’s franchise in Huntsville is owned by Larry Hoffmeister, who discovered the chain during his travels as a civilian worker for the U.S. Army Research Development and Engineering Center. He hopes to open more locations around the area. The address of Dickey’s is 6886 Governors West, Suite 112, and the phone number is (256) 270-4425.
--September 4, 2014
Monday steak night
Monday nights are special at the Furniture Factory. This Meridian Street meet market is a gathering spot for long-time Huntsvillians most days and a popular music emporium at night. It has its own distinction on Mondays, though.
A plump sirloin cooked to order and the tastiest mashed potatoes you've ever eaten are part of a special weekly dinner. It's $7.50 steak night, and you'll be hard pressed to find a better bargain. The steak is surprisingly tender and delightfully flavored. A table in the back of the main room serves as a buffet for a simple salad bar with cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, egg, cheese and bacon bits next to a glass bowl of mixed lettuces. Complemented by ranch or Italian dressing, it's probably the best salad you'll find in a foam bowl. Those delicious mashed potatoes are in another bowl on the same table, and if the server doesn't add enough to your plate, you're welcome to go back for more.
A glass or Merlot, tea and two steak meals cost a whopping $21.53 this week. And I don't feel at all cheap. This is a great meal and a relaxing afternoon at the bar for really thrifty partiers. We do it regularly.
--August 25, 2014
What's For Supper?
For the third Thursday in four weeks, my wife Jenny and I have eaten dinner at the corner of Eustis Avenue and Green Street on an aging bench in a vacant lot. The scene is called Green Street Market; the food is labeled What’s for Supper? She’s hooked on chef Walter Thames’ mufelatta, while I have swayed between the shrimp-and-sausage sandwich and fried green tomato sliders.
The atmosphere is precisely what I enjoy: a bustling crowd. This vacant lot comes to life each Thursday during the summer months as an upscale farmer’s market that more resembles the vendor stands at a music festival than a produce market. Wares include pottery and tie-died clothes, gourmet sauces and salads, fruity and frozen drinks, vegetables and ready-made meals. You can find retired bankers and rocket scientists with sleeves rolled up bagging squash and zucchini alongside their wives.
What’s for Supper is one of the vendors, another businessman-turned-chef, chasing his life’s calling. Chef Thames searched for years for a commercial kitchen to practice his calling to catering. He found it at the Knights of Columbus hall, and now prepares meals-to-go and delightful salads and sandwiches for a fast-paced Rocket City. His wife Beth, whose name might be familiar from a column she writes in The Huntsville Times, is at his side at Thursday’s markets.
The sandwiches and meals range from $7 to $10. Thames brings along a panini press for heating sandwiches. I’ve also tried the Caesar chicken pasta, and it’s very good also. Thursdays have become a special night for our whole family.
--July 31, 2014
Oriental Neighborhood Fare
Panda Japanese & Chinese Restaurant is clean and quaint. It’s the perfect neighborhood restaurant for a diverse community like Huntsville, Alabama.
So, why is it almost always empty? How can it survive? The Panda obviously has some secrets that keep its doors open.
The sushi is one. A small bar at the rear of the restaurant contains fresh seafood, sticky rice, seaweed, and seasonings for delightful sushi and sashimi creations. The Dragon Roll is a safe and tasty choice for both beginners and connoisseurs.
Crab Rangoon is a great appetizer. Add a sushi roll and fried rice to make a meal for two. The Rangooonsists of deep-fried wontons stuffed with a crab-and-cream cheese filling, perfectly seasoned. It’s mouth-watering.
Take-out orders must be the life-breath of the Panda. Before even offering seating, the hostess will ask if the order is to go. You get the feeling that’s what most customers want.
Those folks should slow down and relax. The Panda is warm and cozy, and some of the servers speak excellent Southern English. That’s something you don’t find in every Oriental restaurant.
Panda is in the very corner of South Huntsville’s Whitesburg Plaza Shopping Center. If you want to dial it into your GPS, the specific address is 5000 Whitesburg Drive, zip code 35802. At times, its savory aromas drift through the entire neighborhood.
If you’ve never been there, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
--November 26, 2012
Huntsville’s Best Sandwich
Looking for Huntsville’s best sandwich? You’ll find it at a hometown restaurant called Dallas Mill Deli. I seem to find a new favorite there on every visit.
The deli’s Southern Reuben is tops this week. Order it, and the kitchen staff is quick to explain that this is not the classic pastrami-and-sauerkraut specialty. The Southern Reuben cushions a thick slice of bologna between rye toast. It is dressed with a Thousand Island dressing, kraut, and American cheese. For about $5.50, it is delicious.
Of course, not every customer can appreciate the distinctive tastes of sauerkraut and rye. Worry not. You can still find your own favorite here.
Before the Reuben, the toasted pimiento cheese sandwich was tops. Order it on white or wheat bread. If you ask for it all the way, expect lettuce and tomato. It costs just under $4.
For about the same price, you can get what might be Huntsville’s best burger. It is pretty basic, but with a delightful taste. You never know what makes a cheeseburger special. This one is reminiscent of one served in the bar of Huntsville’s long-ago Boots Restaurant.
Dallas Mill Deli has become legendary as a hometown restaurant in only a few years. It opened in 2006 near the intersection of Pratt Avenue and Washington Street, just outside of the historic Dallas Mill Village. Its walls are covered with pictures and memorabilia from Huntsville’s past.
The deli became a neighborhood hangout for downtown office workers and professionals, as well as residents of the nearby historic districts. After several years in business, it stopped serving breakfast and put a lunch truck on the streets to hit the city’s research parks and construction sites.
Another of the best choices at Dallas Mill Deli is its strawberry pretzel salad, which is listed as a dessert. It is a refreshing combination of strawberry gelatin and sweetened cream cheese on a pretzel crust. It’s displayed in a glass cooler with other desserts and salads. If you’re on the run, stop and grab a slice of it. You’ll be back soon.
Dallas Mill Deli is at 500 Pratt Ave. N.W.; zip code 35801. It’s open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The phone number is (256) 489-3354.
Say hello to Kaki, who works there. She’s my daughter.
--November 8, 2012
Farewell to Pauli's
One of Huntsville’s premier restaurants, Pauli’s Bar and Grill, has closed its doors. Owner Paul Thornton this week e-mailed his loyal patrons that this was “the hardest decision I have ever had to make.”
Pauli’s and its adjoining tapas restaurant, Vinotini, closed permanently last Friday night. Thornton had planned to turn ownership of the restaurant over to his mother, but “her financing fell apart,” he said. That led to his decision to close.
Thornton’s message went to customers who participated in his “Birthday Program,” an electronic messaging network that he said he plans to expand city wide. He said customers with gift certificates can e-mail him, and he will find another establishment to honor the offer or make other restitution.
Pauli’s opened at the corner of Slaughter Road and U.S. 72 West in 1998. Thornton had earned a reputation on the staff of the Green Bottle Grill on Airport Road, which was Huntsville’s top restaurant of the 1980s and ’90s. Matt Martin, also from Green Bottle, had been executive chef at Pauli’s for nearly a decade.
Thornton’s farewell e-mail thanked his family and friends for their patronage at Pauli’s. He lauded the loyalty of his staff and encouraged other restaurants to offer them new opportunities.
--October 2, 2012
Old-Fashioned Diner
City Café Diner in Huntsville is much more than its name implies. Neon lights create a retro perspective. All-day breakfast and black-and-white aprons are hints of a diner. Meatloaf, liver and onions, country-fried steak or catfish filets are standards at most Southern cafes.
But what about chicken Marsala, Greek moussaka and Cajun jambalaya pasta? Who can imagine nearly half-dozen variations on the gyro?
City Café Diner offers all of these without sacrificing quality for quantity. And helpings are plentiful.
This restaurant has its roots in Savannah, Ga., and branches that reach as far north as New York. With more than two dozen locations, it still seems to have no official website. Google “City Café Diner,” and you’ll find thousands of choices.
That’s much like the official printed menu soon to roll out in Huntsville. It has page after page of selections – enough to cover 24 hours a day, which will soon be the regular schedule. City Café Diner began opening at 6 a.m. this week.
The restaurant is next door to Cracker Barrel off South Memorial Parkway at Drake Avenue. The building was first a Mexican restaurant called Tia’s Tex-Mex before being transformed into a Chinese Royal Buffet. As City Café Diner, it has become open and spacious, with a dineresque noise level and lively atmosphere.
Business has been brisk during its first few weeks open, and repeat customers are becoming the norm. A huge dessert case is hard to miss coming in or leaving the restaurant. Expect to pay between $8 and $10, whether you have breakfast, a mid-day sandwich, or dinner. A few entrees range up to $15.
RaeRay tried breakfast there about 11 a.m. Tuesday. Service was very good; pancakes and eggs-and-bacon were pretty basic. Grits had the texture of oatmeal.
We’ll go back, though, for the gyros, the patty-melt, the Reuben, the liver-and-onions and the lasagna. City Café Diner has it all.
--September 11, 2012
Mediterranean Madness
Zoe's Kitchen adds a new niche to Huntsville's restaurant scene. Zoe's is a fast-casual, Mediterranean-influenced restaurant founded in Birmingham some 13 years ago.
The Huntsville location is on Whitesburg Drive, in the former Tony's Little Italy space at Village on Whitesburg. It adds a new dimension to this restaurant haven at the corner of Whitesburg and Airport Road, which features no fewer than eight eateries now and another under construction.
Hummus, orzo, Greek salads, kabobs, pita chips, and wraps give the restaurant its Mediterranean theme. Potato salad, eggs salad, and pimiento cheese add a Southern flavor. The pimiento cheese differs from Mom's with its spicy kick.
Someone's mom must have made it this way, though. The original Zoe's Kitchen was a mom-and-pop's eatery in Birmingham's Homewood subdivision, operated by Zoe Cassimus and her husband Marcus. In 2002, their football-star son John, a former running back for the Alabama Crimson Tide, joined the operation. Since then, more than 60 more Zoe's locations have appeared across the South from Maryland to Arizona. Huntsville's is the 13th in Alabama.
Zoe's opened on Thursday, and the restaurant was spilling over at midday when RaeRay came to visit, needing to be at work in precisely one hour. The crowd seemed overwhelming, but once through the line, our food came in a minutes.
As mentioned before, the pimiento cheese sandwich had a spicy kick, in spite of its claim as a "Southern favorite." It's listed as a vegetarian offering.
Topping the list of grilled sandwiches is the Gruben, which is as good as any sandwich in Huntsville. It's a variation on the Reuben only replacing the corned beef, sauerkraut and Thousand Island with grilled turkey, slaw and spicy mustard. All of this on rye creates a robust savour. Even the roasted fresh vegetables -- boring at other restaurants -- burst with flavor.
On this day, RaeRay could have tried Yaya's hand-made chocolate cake or house-baked cookies for dessert with time to spare. But, no, let's get on to work. Forty minutes was the total time -- not bad for the second day of serving.
What other restaurants are on this corner of Airport and Whitesburg? Well, here's a list of just the northwest quadrant:
Ding How II
Jason's Deli
Panera Bread
Nothing But Noodles
Subway
Momma Goldberg's
Bonefish Grill
Shane's Rib Shack
Drake's
--July 6, 2012
My Family Favorites
I apologize to anyone who has looked here for a new review over the last few months. I’ve lapsed, but I plan to do better. Several things I could have pointed out here if I just took the time. A project called Raeray’s Great Adventure again proved to me how much I love writing. It filled some of the space in my mind that has been empty for some time. This renewed venture with thebestofhuntsville.biz can do the same.
My eating habits have changed drastically since I began punching a time clock. Years of setting my own schedule left me eating once a day at times—often just at lunch with friends or dinner with the family. Now I have a pastry or cereal for breakfast without fail. If I have a lunch hour, I come home for two sandwiches or leftover chili or meat and vegetables. When I can eat out, I make convenient choices.
Regular habits are difficult when you may work one day at 6 a.m., the next at 1 p.m., and then at 10 a.m. Quick meals on the way to work might consist of a Schlotzsky’s sandwich, a plate full of Krystals, or the $5 special from Hardee’s, which includes a burger, hot dog, fries, dessert, and drink. If I have time, I’ll stop at Mellow Mushroom, where a slice of pizza and salad – the Caesar is very good – is a reasonable lunch, minus the exceptional tip for my daughter, Morgan, who works there. My favorite noontime meal on mornings off is the toasted Pimiento cheese sandwich at Dallas Mill Deli, where my other daughter, Kaki, works.
During free evenings, my wife, Jenny, and I hit the special deals at nearby restaurants. Ruby Tuesday continues to prepare us its Parmesan cream sirloin from a previous menu. We do the Chili’s two-person deal with spinach dip and burgers, or we take advantage of Logan’s Roadhouse’s special that includes the mini –desserts in a pail. And practically every Wednesday, we order dinner to go at Bonefish Grill, where the famous Bang-Bang Shrimp is on special at $5.
These are a few of my current BESTs, but I vow to keep more coming in the future. Please join me in the journey.
--June 26, 2012
High-Tech Smokehouse
Sandwiches are packed with pork. Southern-style sides include black-eyed peas with okra. Sauces are tangy and slightly sweet. Huntsville has a new restaurant, and it’s called Moe’s Original Barbecue.
Moe’s has its own niche in the smokehouse tradition. Think barbecue, and the mind races to cities known for their own cooking styles: Memphis, Tenn.; Fort Worth, Texas; and Lexington, N.C. Where do you find Moe’s? It’s in Vail and Denver, Colo., Daphne and Fairhope, Ala. That gives Huntsville a special distinction, along with Birmingham and Tuscaloosa.
I had suggested Moe’s in Tuscaloosa several times over the last year, but my daughter said I could try the one in Huntsville anytime. We always ended up at more legendary Tuscaloosa restaurants, including Nick’s in the Sticks, The Waysider, and 15th Street Café. I finally discovered Moe’s in Huntsville this afternoon.
The atmosphere has the informal feel of Dreamland yet the warmth of Gibson’s. Customers order at the counter the way they would at Thomas Barbecue, then wait for the cook to call their name. Sandwiches and platters include pork, chicken, turkey, and catfish. The restaurant also has a shrimp Moe boy and a chicken wing plate. Prices are for a full meal: $9 for sandwiches, $10 for plates; both include two sides and a drink.
Sweating over the grill is a young cook that looks more like a computer whiz than a barbecue man. Yet he makes customers comfortable calling them by name to pick up their orders and again to invite them back as they leave.
The pork sandwich is stuffed with moist and tender meat and dripping with Moe’s special sauce. Special sides include an intriguing black-eyed pea dish with tomatoes and okra. Macaroni and cheese is another daily special, made with a mild white cheese. Banana pudding is a choice any day of the week.
Moe’s is in the former Chef’s Table building on Cecil Ashburn Drive just east of Carl T. Jones Drive. It is fast and informal and like nothing else in the bustling Jones Valley development. Give it a try.
--From April 25, 2011